Because of factors such as energy and time one invests in an object, the stronger the connection, value, and reluctance to lose said object individual will have. Hoarding behavior arises when individuals incorporate a strong attachment with themselves to an object. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of self-investment on hoarding tendency and the roles of possession-self link and liking level in this connection. A hypothetical model of the relationship between self-investment, possession-self link, liking level, and hoarding tendency was tested. A convenience sampling method was used to survey 450 college students in Yunnan Province on either a paper-based or online self-report scale. The data were collected using self-investment, possession-self link, and liking level questionnaires, as well as the Saving Inventory Revised. Results showed positive relationship between the study variables, ranging from 0.37 to 0.87. College students’ self-investment had a direct positive predictive effect on hoarding tendency; self-investment, in turn, indirectly predicted hoarding tendency through the mediating effect of possession-self link; and individual liking level of items had a moderating effect for self-investment on the possession-self link. This study shows how self-investment affects the hoarding tendency of college students, and the results of this study also help demonstrate the value of self-investment and possession-self link in optimizing students’ hoarding tendency and thus promoting good psychological status.
In some fashion or another, we have all experienced some level of hoarding—when we keep something objectively useless but claim it has clearly affected our life and are unwilling to throw it away. Hoarding refers to the acquisition or inability to discard items that have no use or value. The most commonly hoarded items are clothes, newspapers, magazines, books, food, and packaging, while recent studies have shown that hoarding can be extended even to animals [
However, like most aspects of human behavior, hoarding behaviors range from normal and adaptive to excessive and even pathological. Studies have shown that the prevalence of hoarding behaviors in the general population is 2.3%–6% [
Why do individuals develop hoarding behaviors? A range of factors that contribute to hoarding behavior has been given, including memory, waste avoidance, and aesthetic reasons [
However, not all hoarding tendencies reach a clinical diagnosis. For some, hoarding objects may not be done in such great quantity, but in quality. Although these tendencies—of collecting objectively useless things that have affected one’s life enough to the point where they are unwilling to discard them—still exist across people, the difference may lie in the value placed on the hoarded objects one has. Furby noted that the more attention an individual pays to an object, the more likely they are to relate to that object [
We have all had the experience that for two identical objects, people prefer the one they have worked harder to get. This is also the case even for objects they have participated in making, even if they are inferior, individuals will give them a higher value. Self-investment refers to the process by which individuals actively or passively invest their cognition, feelings, and energy in an object [
It has been noted that individuals have different cognitive processing styles when confronted with different objects [
The convenience sampling method was used to select the sample, and the surveyed participants included 450 college students from Yuxi Normal College (Yunnan, China) on March 2022. Among the participants, 90% of them were from different regions of the Yunnan Province and 10% were from other provinces. The response scale was rechecked at the end of the survey and 54 invalid questionnaires, including missing questions and routine questions, were removed, for a total of 396 valid questionnaires. The age of the participants ranged from 17 to 22 years (M = 19.7; SD = 1.0 years). Of these, 287 (72.5%) were female and 109 (27.5%) were male.
Variables | Groups | Frequency (%) |
---|---|---|
Sex | Female | 287 (72.5%) |
Male | 109 (27.5%) | |
Age | Below 20 years old (18–19) | 204 (51.5%) |
20 years old and above (20–24) | 192 (48.5%) | |
Monthly household income | 3000 RMB and below | 185 (46.7%) |
3001 RMB to 7000 RMB | 152 (38.4%) | |
Above 7000 RMB | 59 (14.9%) | |
Only child | Only child | 129 (32.6%) |
Not an only child | 267 (67.4%) |
Psychology teachers went into the classroom to administer the anonymous field test, as well as trained classroom teachers to administer the online survey. Questionnaires were distributed to each class’ Microsoft group. Participants were told not to participate again if they had already participated in the study in any mode (online or offline). The response scales were checked and 54 invalid questionnaires were excluded, yielding a total of 396 valid questionnaires with an 88% validity rate. Software such as SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS v.3.3 were used for data management and data analysis.
This study used the Saving Inventory Revised, which was revised several times by Frost et al. based on numerous clinical studies and has been widely used for self-rating hoarding symptoms [
The self-investment questionnaire was adapted from the self-investment questionnaire developed by Brown et al. [
This study used Ferraro et al.’s Possession-self link scale [
Referring to the study by Dohle et al. [
Human subjects were used in this study, so we followed the Declaration of Helsinki and it is all later amendments. The Ethical Committee of Yuxi Normal University, Yuxi, China has approved the study (ERB No. 2022005, dated: 18/3/2022). Prior to the start of the survey, students were informed of the intent of the survey, the costs and benefits, the time required to complete the survey, and the confidentiality of the data. To ensure that students understood the nature of the study, they were provided with an informed consent form to participate in this study.
This study used a self-assessment scale, which may result in common method bias (CMB). Therefore, the privacy of the subjects was protected during the testing process, some items were controlled by reverse scoring, and the common method bias in data processing was examined using Harman’s one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that a total of six factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 explained 64.75% of the variance, and the first factor explained 30.79% of the variance, which was below the critical value of 40%, indicating that the effect of the common method bias was not significant.
Variables | Skewness | Kurtosis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Self-investment | 3.66 | 0.05 | 0.14 | −0.10 | 1 | - | - | - |
2. Possession-self link | 3.76 | 0.05 | 0.10 | −0.22 | .77** | 1 | - | - |
3. Liking level | 3.89 | 0.06 | 0.23 | −0.02 | .72** | .87** | 1 | - |
4. Hoarding tendency | 1.54 | 0.03 | 0.37 | 0.02 | .40** | .39** | .37** | 1 |
Note: M = mean; SD = standard deviation. **
The SPSS macro process v3.3 program was used to test the mediated model with moderation. Analyses were conducted to determine whether the relationship between self-investment, possession-self link, and hoarding tendency was moderated by liking level. In all analyses, the bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method test was used to estimate 95% confidence intervals for various effects using a replicate sample of 5000. The mediating model test with moderation entails estimating the parameters of three regression equations: first, to test the predictive effect between the independent variable (self-investment) and the dependent variable (hoarding tendency); second, to test the effect of the mediating variable (possession-self link) on the relationship between the independent variable (self-investment) and the dependent variable (hoarding tendency); and again, to test the moderating effect of the moderating variable (liking level) on the relationship between the independent variable (self-investment) and the dependent variable (possession-self link).
A moderated mediating effect exists if the model satisfies the following conditions: (1) the predictive effect of self-investment on hoarding tendency is significant; (2) the predictive effect of self-investment on possession-self link is significant and the predictive effect of possession-self link had a significant predictive effect on hoarding tendency, and (3) the interaction effect of self-investment and object liking level on possession-self link was significant (see
To test the mediating effect of the possession-self link and the moderating effect of liking level, the SPSS macro process model7 developed by Hayes [
Variables | Possession-self link | Hoarding tendency | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Self-investment | 0.46 | 0.07 | 6.42*** | 0.12 | 0.04 | 3.32*** |
Possession-self link | 0.11 | 0.04 | 2.85*** | |||
Liking level | 0.74 | 0.06 | 11.51*** | |||
Self-investment x Liking level | −0.04 | 0.02 | −2.69** | |||
0.29 | 0.17 | |||||
92.48*** | 41.30*** |
Note: Coeff = coefficient; SE = standard error.
Second, the regression analysis was conducted with the possession-self link as the independent variable and hoarding tendency as the dependent variable. The results showed that the possession-self link had a significant positive predictive effect on hoarding tendency (Coeff = 0.11, SE = 0.04, t = 2.85,
To more clearly reveal the interaction effect of self-investment and liking level, a simple effect analysis was conducted to group liking level by one standard deviation above and below the mean, with the mean plus one standard deviation for the high liking group and the mean minus one standard deviation for the low liking group. The direct effect values of the variable self-investment on the variable possession-self link and their 95% Bootstrap confidence intervals are shown in
Liking level | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.34 | 0.04 | 9.11*** | 0.27 | 0.41 | |
0.29 | 0.03 | 9.29*** | 0.23 | 0.35 | |
0.24 | 0.04 | 6.84*** | 0.17 | 0.31 |
Note: M = Mean; SD = Standard deviation; Coeff = coefficient; SE = standard error; LLCI = Lower level confidence interval; ULCI = upper level confidence interval.
Meanwhile, this study also examined the role of liking level in the relationship of self-investment and possession-self link using simple slopes. The moderating effect is shown in
The results of this study show that self-investment is positively and directly related to hoarding tendency. The higher an individual’s self-investment, the higher the hoarding tendency. Conversely, the lower the self-investment, the lower the hoarding tendency. In addition, self-investment positively predicted the possessive-self link; the possessive-self link positively predicts the hoarding tendency, and self-investment indirectly predicted the hoarding tendency through the possessive-self link. Based on these results, higher self-investment will lead to a higher possession-self link, and a higher possession-self link will lead to a higher hoarding tendency, which is consistent with existing research [
The present study also found that self-investment predicted possession-self link, and possession-self link predicted hoarding tendency; therefore, self-investment could indirectly predict hoarding tendency through object self-association. The results of this study can be explained by the self-extension theory. Self-extension theory emphasizes that the most common method of establishing a connection between the self and an object is creation, where the individual invests mental energy into the product of creation through labor, and therefore the increase in the value of labor may reflect the effort invested by the individual [
The results of this study also showed that self-investment was positively related to liking level. The self-liking level was also positively related to possession-self link. And liking level for an object moderated the effect of self-investment on possession-self link. Overall, the stronger the possession-self link is for increasing self-investment; for a highly liked object, the stronger the possession-self link is with increasing self-investment; for a less liked object, self-investment increases and the stronger the possession-self link is as well. Perhaps, it is more likely for a favorite item to become a part of oneself as a satisfaction of heart expectation and motivation. While on the other hand, the time and energy invested by an individual in a low favorite item bring a stronger possession-self link, which is perhaps the feeling from not having much expectation at the beginning to the surprise coming later. Based on this, interventions for hoarders can be carried out by finding alternatives. Encourage subjects to take a picture or video of the item before disposing of it, allowing them to maintain mental ownership of the item even after it is discarded. Taking a photograph may represent a personal meaning associated with the item (e.g., a specific memory or emotion) being retained in the photograph, making it easier to discard the item itself [
This study also has some limitations that need to be improved in future studies. First, the results of the cross-sectional study design cannot infer causality, so, future longitudinal designs or experimental studies should be used to explore the causal relationship between self-investment and hoarding tendency through convergent cross-sectional designs, multi-layer linear models, or manipulation of independent and mediating variables. Second, this study was conducted during the New Crown epidemic. The impact of the New Crown epidemic on individuals’ habits and consumption habits was tremendous. People were more inclined to hoard some daily necessities. This study was a specific result for a specific period. Finally, the study was conducted in teacher training colleges in southwest China, where there are more female students. Therefore, the proportion of male students in the sample is low. In future studies, the data of college students should be more comprehensive and more in-depth to explore the gender differences in hoarding tendency in the new period of the new crown epidemic. In addition, this study found a significant correlation between self-investment and hoarding tendency, mediated by the possession-self link and moderated by liking level. Further studies can adopt experimental approaches and designs to continue to understand the role of self-investment and possibly the neural mechanisms behind the hoarding tendency.
In summary, this study is unique in distinguishing the relationship between self-investment and hoarding tendency among Chinese college students. In order to explore the existing literature, the results of this study embody hoarding tendency and other related factors, revealing the effects of self-investment, liking level, and possession-self link on college students’ hoarding tendency. We found that college students’ self-investment predicted hoarding tendency, the possession-self link played a mediating role, and liking level played a moderating role in this predictive relationship. Based on this, we suggest that a psychological intervention based on self-investment can reduce their tendency to hoard. The present study also provided effective ways of handling items that were tested to help non-clinical hoarders improve hoarding behavior tendencies. The results of this study contribute to the improvement of hoarding tendency in college students.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the respondents for their time to complete the survey.
This research was supported by Yunnan Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Planning Youth Project under Grant No. QN2018055.
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study.